


I missed you

by inkedauthority



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Enchanted Forest, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 21:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8861980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkedauthority/pseuds/inkedauthority
Summary: SnowQueen AU. When David remains a statue in Medusa's cave, Snow is left devastated; but her grief draws her closer to the only person who can truly understand what being alone feels like. Amidst the revenge ridden history and complicated feelings, Regina and Snow slowly start to unravel their relationship until everything fits perfectly together again. (Canon divergent 3x10)





	

** I MISSED YOU by INKEDAUTHORITY **

 

She had made her vows a few hours before, her trip to Maleficent successful in its own right, but the thought that Snow White was getting everything she ever wanted grated on her nerves. Groaning in frustration at the fact that she was helpless until the curse was cast, Regina paced the stone floors in her heels, the click clack of them against the stone soothing her rapidly rising blood pressure.

 

She had to make a statement. The Evil Queen had to show Snow that she wasn’t just some little kitten that would roll over. Regina needed to have her memory burned into Snow’s mind for the rest of her life; something lasting and permanent.

 

Strutting across the mirror, the queen waved her hand over the glass to show an image of the princess and her prince battling the famed Medusa. How stupid could the girl be?

 

Chuckling at the show, Regina curled her finger around a lock of dark hair, her eyes taking in the strong muscles that pulled taunt against the tight fabric of Snow’s leather pants, the sword she held glinting in the light. The girl looked every bit a warrior, and Regina couldn’t help but appreciate that sight for a few minutes until uncontrollable laughter filled the air when she watched the prince get turned to stone.

 

 _Oh_ , what a delicious irony indeed. She hadn’t the need to interfere in Snow’s plans to have it go awry. Perhaps that was what she had been doing wrong all along, perhaps she simply had to let her enemy’s story play out.

 

A malicious grin remained on her face as she watched Snow trudge back to the summer castle with tears streaming down her cheeks. The princess had just barely been married, and now she had no husband to call her own; a fate she had brought upon herself with the evil queen running rampant in that tiny little mind of hers.

 

Another wave of her hand and the image disappeared, leaving Regina with her own reflection smiling back at her.

 

 

_1 month later…_

 

The announcement had been made after unsuccessful attempts to retrieve David from Medusa’s cave. They had come close only two out of the several times they tried to move the heavy stone statue, but failed when at least one other person joined the rapidly growing pile of chess pieces to the mythical creature’s collection.

 

King David was temporally incapacitated, and all royal duties would fall onto Queen Snow until such time that the blonde man could be retrieved.

 

It was hard work, gruelling in areas where she would have sworn David would know what to do better, but with his lack of presence due to her own fault, Snow was forced to put on a brave face and face the kingdom as a strong leader they all fought for against the Evil Queen.

 

Every night she would inquire as to how the progress was going with freeing David from Medusa’s spell, but each time the guards would only remind her that they had yet to even pull his form out from the monster’s lair; and Snow had thought Regina had been bad. This separation caused by her own foolishness was a far worse experience than fighting against an enemy with a proper motive and only sleeping curses as weapons. The young queen almost wished for the days in which they fought Regina back, but the brunette woman had yet to even show her face since the wedding, something Snow found very odd. Usually the Evil Queen would love to gloat about such a thing, taunt her with the fact that if it hadn’t been for her stupidity, then David would still be alive and well, but … no sign of the former queen.

 

Collapsing on her too large bed, Snow wept for her fate, clutching a pillow to her chest that did nothing to quell her ache for the man she loved.

 

A few castles over, Regina pouted at the sight of the princess weeping like a commoner, her snot nosed face hidden from view with the curtain of black locks that were truly as dark as ebony. Oh how pretty the girl was, but certainly not for long. Soon, Regina knew it would only be a matter of time before the council would advise Snow to marry again, give up on the love no one could save now. Although, whether the stubborn woman would take the offer, Regina had yet to decide on which she should expect: _Yes, or No?_

 

Setting her hand mirror down on her bedside table, the queen pushed down her blankets and crawled into bed, a thought that had festered its way into her mind now lingering even as she attempted sleep.

 

What if… what if her revenge wasn’t all about a little murder? Wouldn’t it be nice to take back the kingdom, to have Snow eating out the palm of her hand? And the poor dear was in a vulnerable state, although her stubbornness to reclaim the prince from Medusa still remained. True love really provided to be a pesky little thing.

 

Rolling over, the dark queen smirked to herself, her thought pushing into action. It had been too long to simply wait for an opportunity, and the evil queen was known for action, not thought. A little call wouldn’t hurt now would it?

 

“Oh spare your tears dear, they will never bring him back.”

 

Snow’s head shot up at the familiar voice, one she located originating from her dressing table mirror that glowed blue at the edges with magic. “You… you had something to do with this, didn’t you?” She almost hoped that Regina would shoulder the blame, it would most certainly unburden her own shoulders from the heavy weight they carried.

 

“Oh no, no, no,” Regina chuckled, the laugh sounding amused, her eyes crinkling at the edges, “I haven’t done anything to dear old shepherd boy. It was all you, Snow. I can’t decide whether to be immensely overjoyed that you’re destroying your own happiness, or proud that you’ve gotten rid of that pest all on your own.” Regina’s lips pouted, mirth swimming in her eyes.

 

“You think this is funny, don’t you?” Snow’s anger at everything only increased, but now she had a proper target to take it out on: The one person who could actually take it. “Why are you hiding behind a mirror like a coward? Why don’t you face me like a real monster?” Sneering at the image, Snow bent at her waist to level her eyes with Regina’s, her jaw hard and lips pressed into a thin line.

 

“Have you missed me that much?” Regina asked, her eyes sweeping over Snow’s posture, a half smile on her lips, “or do you need someone to blame for your own reckless behaviour? You always believed you were innocent. Not this time, _princess_. Anyways, I see you’re doing positively fine with your excruciating predicament, so I’ll leave you to it. I have beauty sleep to catch up on.” Flashing Snow one last grin, Regina let her image fade from the mirror just as something hard hurled at the reflective glass.

 

The only response she had was to laugh at the misery on Snow’s face and settle in for what she assumed to a be good night’s sleep.

 

 

[][][]

 

Regina hadn’t bothered to show her face again until Snow had broken down two weeks later, her hands over her face and shoulders slumped. David had been retrieved alright, but his statue was broken in places, torn down from where they had tried to grasp and move him. His body had been damaged, bleeding over her too white dress when one of the dwarfs had lead her to his dying body in a rickety wooden cart.

 

An accident had lead to one of the soldiers lifting his shield to Medusa’s face in fear of being her next victim, but the shiny metal had only served to backfire and have the creature blast into dust.

 

David and several others trapped in Medusa’s curse were freed, but not without consequences.  If the stone was damaged, so too was the flesh it concealed within its grasp. The funeral had been a beautiful affair, a closed casket to combat the missing pieces of David’s body, but the heavy weight of loss had finally come crashing down on Snow, and the few moments she had alone before she had to tend to guests was interrupted by the person she didn’t want to face for years to come.

 

“Who would have known? Snow White ruining her own happy ending by trying to kill the Evil Queen.” The click of high heels had the new queen alert. It sounded too close for comfort, too real to be from the mirror.

 

A touch to her shoulder had Snow jerk back to look up into understanding brown eyes, ones she had gazed into with gratitude once, but now only glared at with unmasked fury. “What are you doing here?!” The shriek didn’t sound like her at all, but the tears blurring her vision and sudden grip on Regina’s lavish black coat had her believe that she wasn’t in control anymore. “You did this! You made me go into that cave to find a way to kill you!” Shaking her fists back and forth, Regina lurched with her movements, her cold hands encasing Snow’s own when her movements became much too frantic, “It’s your fault _… your fault!_ ”

 

If anyone asked, Regina would deny it to her grave, but the loss Snow felt mirrored her own once, and it was that which had her wrap her hands around the woman’s shoulders and pull her in close.

 

“Hush now, dear. Save your strength.” A numbing sort of calm enveloped the pair, Regina finally getting more comfortable on the floor by the foot of the four poster bed, her legs stretching out in front of her as Snow rested her head on her former stepmother’s chest, her fists loosening as she relaxed in the hold.

 

Showing up had been a last minute decision for the queen. She had contemplated making a grand entrance at the funeral, but decided against associating herself with David’s death. Everyone already blamed her for so many things, this was not something she wanted added to the pile. The sight of Snow weeping like a banshee however, had drawn her attention to her nemesis, made her want to shake the girl and have her back to being stubborn and solely focused on her; because Regina and her curse was what was important, not the shepherd already declared dead almost two months prior. In her tantrum of being left out, unwanted, unloved, Regina had teleported herself to Snow’s bedchambers fully intent on having some sort of reaction that would involve swords and magic, but instead she had the princess clinging onto her and passing the blame, albeit lamely.

 

A few minutes later, or hours, Regina couldn’t be sure because her backside was numb, Snow had finally fallen off to sleep between shaky breaths from crying so hard. The entire ordeal had Regina thrown in for a loop.

 

Removing herself from Snow’s grasp, Regina lifted the woman by magic and settled her in the bed to tuck her in with a wave of her hand. One day was all she was willing to provide Snow to grieve, and then all her attention would be shifted back to the looming threat she posed.

 

There was no way the queen was going to become weak in the face of Snow’s tears, especially when she had finally gotten a piece of her revenge. Why then, did the sight of her enemy so battered and bruised have her heart ache in sympathy?

 

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Regina let her magic engulf her form and transport her back to her castle where she stared at the ingredients for the dark curse that should have been completed ages ago.

 

 

When Snow woke from her bed the next morning, she had thought Regina comforting her to be a dream. The musky smell of her nemesis and the carefully tucked in furs provided evidence otherwise, but Snow White refused to see Regina as anything more than the monster she wanted to blame.

 

Her morning routine went on without much fuss whilst she thought about how to get payback for her husband’s death. Regina needed to pay for her sins, and had she just allowed the older woman’s execution none of this would have happened.

 

With those thoughts, Snow White had boarded her carriage, her destination set for the Evil Queen’s castle with a dozen knights in tow, all intent on putting a sword through Regina’s heart, but upon arrival at the ominous castle, Snow held up her hand for the knights to remain behind. One of them had tried protesting, but the enchantment Rumpelstiltskin had put on her kept the new queen relatively safe from Regina’s ill intent, and any concern was unnecessary.

 

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Regina purred, one earring dangling from her fingers as she turned to regard Snow striding into her bed chambers.

 

“I came here to kill you,” Snow answered honestly, her hand crossing over her stomach; a nervous habit she had picked up from Regina when she was young.

 

“Oh?” Regina questioned, fastening the earring onto her naked ear. If she were to die, at least she would look good whilst being stabbed in the back.

 

“But I can’t… I’m not that type of person, at least I don’t think I am.” Snow’s anger from the morning had bubbled and died down to nothing. The guilt she felt at taking her own husband’s life by leading him to Medusa had resurfaced, and in that moment, Snow only looked like a young child seeking comfort from the only family she had left.

 

“You don’t _think?”_ If Snow wanted to kill her, then she would have done minutes ago, and if she tried to kill Snow, then nothing would come of it. Regina was stuck at an irritated welcome that only subsidised into intrigue since she hadn’t many visitors after her banishment, and her time spent hunting down the little brat of a woman was no longer allocated to that specific task. Even the dark curse had lost its appeal, the promise of a happy ending seemingly too large an order for a monster like her.

 

“How do you do it?” Snow asked, ignoring Regina’s previous question to instead level her with a pleading look that reminded Regina all too much of the little girl who got everything. “How do you live with yourself after all the horrible things you’ve done?”

 

The question took Regina aback, but she raised an eyebrow instead and leaned back in her seat, one fist curling under her chin. “You don’t,” She answered honestly, “It haunts you forever.”

 

Snow left shortly after that, the hope in her eyes diminishing like a torch burning out. _Serves her right,_ Regina thought, swiping tears from underneath her eyes. The stubborn thief didn’t deserve such retribution, and if Regina’s honesty was what caused her even more suffering, then who was she to deny such a treat? Although, that would be a whole lot more convincing had the thought been satisfying, but all it served to do was leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

 

 

[][][] 

 

The day Snow fainted in front of her court had been the day the kingdom rejoiced. Snow was to give birth to an heir, a child tied to the namesake of their beloved prince that had passed on without two days of marriage to his name, but it was alright, he was hero if he could still provide a child from his grave.

 

That had been the very same day Regina had destroyed half her bedroom in a near fit of rage. The newly pregnant Snow White hadn’t bothered to contact her after their last meeting over a week ago, and now she was expecting a child? Did no one care about her threat anymore? Did no one see her as the all powerful Evil Queen that could kill anyone she wanted to – except Snow White.

 

In her fit of rage, Regina appeared beside Snow’s bed, her furious eyes landing on the brunette nestled into pillows and sniffing at turbulent thoughts that most likely had to do with the child and her husband’s death.

 

“You’re with child?” Regina asked. She had to be sure, she had to know whether Snow’s attention would shift, whether her purpose and self worth would depreciate; because if she wasn’t a monster to be afraid of, then what was she? She couldn’t be _nothing_ , not when her enemy was alive and well after playing a hand in killing Daniel, in killing the freedom Leopold had chained to his ankle.

 

“So you heard,” Snow responded, her tired, puffy eyes taking in the dark queen that looked haphazard. Regina didn’t quite look as put together as she usually did. There was an air of hurriedness about her, the small things that looked slightly off, but just normal enough not to raise suspicion had it been anyone else looking at her. “What of it?” Tilting her head to the woman she should honestly hate, Snow scooted further back into the bed and pulled the bedspread up to her chest to hide whatever modesty she thought might be hiding there.

 

“You’re still getting your happy ending despite killing your husband and Daniel.” Regina choked on Daniel’s name, but otherwise looked every bit the menacing queen everyone feared.

 

Unable to deal with anymore stress, and honestly just completely exhausted at the back and forth between the two of them, Snow patted the space beside her on the bed and sighed. “I know I don’t deserve this, but I won’t kill a life just because of my guilt. This baby,” She rubbed at her flat stomach absently, “This baby is a symbol of hope, and all those weeks waiting to see if David would live, whether he would come out of Medusa’s cave gave me an inkling as to what you might have been feeling… I hated it. I felt trapped in a cage, I felt _helpless_ , and when David finally…” The brunette choked up a little at the thought of David’s death, choosing to brush over that bit and continue onto the more important things, “… I know your pain, I know why you acted out like that. I don’t want to fight anymore, Regina.”

 

“You don’t know anything!” Regina yelled, tears in her eyes as she stood unmoving from her spot. David had died and left Snow alone, gave her a piece of the bitter medicine Regina had to face for years, but still, it wasn’t enough, it would never be enough. “You don’t get to have your happy ending! I have my curse! I’ll take everything away from you! _Everything!_ ” Pointing an accusatory finger at Snow, Regina flicked her hand over her form and retreated to her castle to lick her wounds. Snow didn’t know anything, her pain was only minor, and Regina was going to show her just how tragic her life could really be.

 

 

[][][]

 

The morning sickness that many women spoke about didn’t affect Snow. She was immensely grateful that her food stayed down, but that didn’t mean her ankles didn’t swell when she walked too much, or her moods wouldn’t swing from one extreme to the other. She was pushing five months with the little one, and already the bump was beginning to show if she looked at herself in the mirror. Luckily her seamstress was talented enough to make flattering clothing that hid the bump tastefully, but more often than not, when she removed the heavy material and would slip into bed, Snow’s thoughts would drift.

 

Sometimes it would go to David, her fingers splayed across her abdomen as she told her child of his feats and habits, other times it was about her father and mother, or most recently, about Regina.

 

She had been thinking about her former stepmother an awful lot lately, and not just because the last time they met there had been animosity, but because there seemed to be something else in those brown pools that she couldn’t quite figure out.

 

Their meetings had always been strange, amicable for two enemies, but Snow always knew that their relationship ran deeper than that, and for Regina to go into a complete blackout instead of prodding at Snow’s weight gain or bad management skills seemed a touch too uncharacteristic for her. Deciding that two months apart was enough, Snow set off towards the castle she had once called her own, but now completely looked as if it belonged to the woman with impeccable taste and a flair for the dramatics.

 

“Regina?” She called, walking through the hallways, her hand over her slight swell as she side stepped guards and traced the familiar stone with her free hand. Eventually Snow had found the dark haired woman staring blankly at a mirror, her hair tumbling over her shoulder in soft waves and her outfit not completely adjusted for proper wear.

 

“Regina?” She called again, reaching out to touch the woman’s shoulder.

 

A flinch and Regina was staring up at her through the mirror, their eyes locking with an unfamiliar undercurrent that had Snow quickly dart her eyes elsewhere.

 

“What are you doing here?” Regina asked blandly, moving back from her vanity to turn and face the woman herself.

 

“I…” _Was thinking about you,_  “wanted to see if you were getting up to any trouble.”

 

Regina scoffed in response, her eyes rolling as she took in Snow’s appearance with little subtly, her eyes landing on the brunette’s stomach.

 

“What are you really doing here?” There was no fight in Regina’s voice. She sounded defeated and lost.

 

“I missed you,” Snow answered honestly, her eyes hard and jaw stiff. How could she miss a person she hadn’t had a proper conversation with in so many years? Perhaps that was the reason. She had been missing Regina for so long, the feeling didn’t even feel foreign anymore. It was simply there, a small part of her that had fused into who she was.

 

“You don’t care for me. You only care about what I might do to your precious subjects. What I can give you, how special I can make you feel. You’ve been demanding things from me since you were a child, and now you say you miss me? How hypocritical.” Brushing past Snow, Regina walked up to her closet and pulled out a leather ensemble, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she considered it. A few beats and the queen produced a silver dress that was softer in its approach, one that Snow vaguely remembered, but couldn’t quite place.

 

“You’re the only family I have left,” Snow said softly, her eyes downcast, her gaze catching the way she cradled her stomach, “I can’t… I can’t be like you. I can’t be alone.”

 

The confession had her look toward Regina whose back was to her, but from the stiffness of her shoulders, Snow knew she had hit a sore spot.

 

“You think I like being alone?” Regina hissed, her eyes dilated and wild, hands reaching out to grip Snow by her throat. “I was made into this monster all because I wanted to avenge my love’s death. You turned my love against me, made it seem like _I_ was the villain when _you_ were all along. You can’t be alone so you come to _me_ for company? What about this thing growing inside you, hmm? You will **never** be alone, princess… unlike me, you have people who love you.”

 

During her rant, Regina had unknowing pulled Snow closer, their noses just touching and hot breath hitting each other’s cheeks. It gave her a rush to have her enemy so close, to know that Snow needed her in some way or another, that the attention she thought would shift to the child wasn’t completely gone.

 

“I’m sorry,” Snow whispered tenderly, the backs of her knuckles coming to gently run down Regina’s cheek, “I never knew… but now I do, I know a little and it _hurts._ ” Her bottom lip trembled at the feeling that gripped her heart, made it squeeze painfully tight at the mere thought. “I want… I want to make it up to you, you want to kill me? Go ahead. If it will make you happy, even for just a moment, I will do it.”

 

The spell wouldn’t allow such a thing, but Snow wanted their feud to be over. She just wanted _her_ Regina back, she wanted the sweet woman who saved her life to help her raise the child who demanded to be loved. She wanted Regina to be a part of her life. Was that too much to ask?

 

“Killing you won’t do anything but provide you with relief from your guilt, and right now, with you practically begging me for such a thing… I’ve never been happier.” The lie was evident, but Snow couldn’t argue anymore, not when they had nothing left to say.

 

Making her way to the door, Snow turned back just before she left, her eyes seeking out Regina’s that held her gaze. “I always believed in you, Regina. I always saw the good in you because I wanted to see the good in myself. I was young, I was easily manipulated and I loved you so much…” Her fingers gripped her dress tighter, something to ground herself with while she poured her heart out to someone soulless. “I still do. I hope you know, that you were never alone, that I have always wanted you to be a part of our family. And even when it seemed like all I wanted to do was kill you, I still loved you. My door is always open.” Nodding at the woman who had become misty eyed, Snow left herself out of the castle and into the carriage that took her back home.

 

 

[][][]

 

A sharp pain woke her up in the middle of the night. It was almost as if someone was stabbing her repeatedly without pause, and the only thing she could do was sob in response while she struggled to get out of bed and hopefully walk it off. A particularly painful jab had her grip her bedside table in agony, a cry escaping her lips in warning to whomever might have been listening.

 

The baby, something was wrong with the baby.

 

Any attempts at movement had only met more pain, and Snow knew that whatever was happening was most likely some sort of karmic debt being paid in full. “Hold on, baby,” Snow grit out through her clenched teeth, her fingers gently massaging circles onto her six months swell. It didn’t work, but she suspected that nothing would, in fact she knew something so drastic would happen after a few weeks of peace. It was inevitable, bad things always were.

 

Another stab of pain in her side had her clutching something warm and soft for support, the pain then lessening considerably, just enough for her to turn to the side and take in Regina’s sleep mused appearance and pursed lips in what looked like annoyance.

 

“You couldn’t have yelled for anyone? There are guards right outside your door, no?” A lecture in the middle of what could have been something deadly? Why did Snow expect otherwise.

 

“What are you doing here?” The brunette asked breathlessly, her hand still on Regina’s forearm, one the fallen queen had yet to yank out of her grasp.

 

“You were yelling, and I have a mirror on you permanently. It was ruining my sleep.” Regina could have let her miscarry, but she didn’t, she… helped her.

 

“Thank you,” Snow said instead, turning her body to face Regina’s properly, “ _Thank you_ ”. If she had lost the baby, then she would have been completely alone, and Regina hadn’t the heart to let that happen. She really was good beneath all that evil nonsense that was just magic pranks for entertainment.

 

“I couldn’t lose my greatest enemy, I’ve invested too much in you.” A joke in the middle of the night; one that had Snow’s heart soar and hands inch their way up until they cupped Regina’s cheeks tenderly.

 

“I have so much to say, but I don’t know how.”

 

“You never had a way with words, princess,” Regina remarked, removing her hand from Snow’s stomach after all that time, “there, all healed. Now go back to sleep and stop ruining my plans to take over your kingdom.”

 

It was an offhanded remark, but Snow was quick to latch onto it. “You can have it,” she blurted out, gripping Regina’s hand in her own after she removed it from the older woman’s cheeks, “I’m not going to be fit enough to run the kingdom after I give birth for at least a few months. This place can’t run itself.”

 

Regina scoffed in response, “I don’t want the kingdom for a few months, I want you to _suffer_ , I want you to lose everything, and then? Then victory will be mine.”

 

“Then why didn’t you let me lose my child tonight?” The question was direct, one that had Regina stumped for words, had her gape at the queen for even asking something like that outright.

 

The only answer Snow got was the plume of purple smoke that made Regina disappear for another few weeks.

 

 

[][][]

 

“I know you’re watching,” Snow said into the mirror, her fingers working through her long hair to untangle the ends, “It’s been too long, I don’t know whether you’re alive or not.” She waited for a few minutes, but the mirror remained blank.

 

“You know, I think its going to be a girl,” she spoke out loud, much like how she had been doing the past weeks after Regina had left her alone after that one question; but she found that if the brunette wasn’t listening, then it was rather therapeutic to _think_ she was talking to someone. Lately she had no one to talk to, no one who could understand her pain of losing a loved one so very close, and then being pregnant on top of that. Red had tried to help, but her situation was so vastly different, that Snow felt slightly out of place when they spoke about their lost loves.

 

“I felt a few more kicks last night. The baby is not as active as others, but the physician said everything is fine. Although I worry… about the kingdom, the baby… _you._ ” Snow found she had been longing for Regina’s company more often than she liked, and not all her thoughts towards the woman were exactly savoury. There was that one time she woke up sweaty and panting, her thighs slick with wetness from a dream she had blushed the entire day about.

 

Craving such intimate affection was apparently normal, and thus the innocent one time dream was placed under the several side effects of pregnancy.

 

Gazing into the mirror one last time, Snow sighed deeply and touched her fingertips to the glass before pushing herself up from the chair, her belly now big enough to feel the weight of it pressing on her back, and most certainly experience the difficulty of sitting and waking up.

 

“Oh don’t look so forlorn!” She heard, the bark belonging to the most infuriating woman Snow knew. “I’m your enemy, behave like one!” Regina didn’t look too angry, in fact she looked amused.

 

“Come visit me,” Snow implored, standing back a little so that she didn’t have to sit again, but could still see Regina perfectly without having to bend.

 

“I am not a little plaything to come visit you, nor am I a friend.” Snapping at Snow seemed to be the only thing Regina knew how to do well, but the pregnant brunette only rolled her eyes at the fallen queen and placed a hand on the small of her aching back.

 

“No, you’re not,” she agreed, “you’re much more than that.” After all, she owed Regina a whole lot of things. If it hadn’t been for her, then Snow would have never found David, would have never been pregnant with his child… she would have been a boring princess stuck with an arranged marriage, a glided cage for a pretty bird.

 

Regina only harrumphed in response before the image from the mirror faded. Deciding not to let the rejection get the better of her, Snow found herself in the garden, the lush greenery doing much to ease her troubled soul.

 

“Still a demanding princess that gets whatever she wants.” A smile greeted Regina as she strutted across the garden to stand beside Snow, her eyebrow raised at the joyful expression on the reigning queen’s face.

 

A small laugh bubbled up from Snow’s lips at the way Regina seemed to give in despite claiming to be above such small requests, but the brunette felt that in the short conversations and angry visits, things had shifted toward the better, and small steps was what seemed to work.

 

“Thank you for coming,” Snow said softly, her fingers brushing against Regina’s as she moved forward to walk amongst the trees, “It’s been-”

 

“-too long,” Regina finished for her, following Snow down the designated path. “I was thinking,” The dark queen said after a few thoughtful moments, their steps slow and leisurely, “If you need help with the kingdom… or… the baby, I wouldn’t mind lending a hand every now and again.”

 

It was a huge offering, one that had Snow stop in her tracks and look up at Regina with that same awe in her eyes the first time they had met. Regina felt as if she didn’t deserve that look, not when she couldn’t cast the dark curse, not when she couldn’t feel satisfied at the fact that David had died and left Snow alone, just like _she_ had been for so many years. Cowards didn’t get looks like that, looks that made hearts melt and evil dissolve into a pile of ash at the feet of good. “You can say no if you want to, I know you might not trust me after everything-”

 

“I will monitor your decisions in the beginning to make sure your intentions are good, but otherwise…” She took Regina’s hands between her own, a tearful smile on her face, “I am so happy that you’re coming back to me. This will be good for us… we can be a family, a real one.”

 

Regina squeezed back gently, a sad smile on her face as she looked down at Snow’s belly, the child there reminding her of the barren womb she carried like a curse. “I’m not an easy person to love,” Regina supplied, trying to make Snow back out of whatever grand idea she might’ve had.

 

“I know that more than anyone, and yet I have never been able to give you up. I won’t let go of you of you again, I promise.” It was too early on in their relationship for a hug, but a small smile and squeeze of the hand was just enough for an acknowledgement to be made before they started walking down the garden again.

 

“We have too much history,” Regina blurted, her fingers twisting nervously.

 

“Then we can start over,” Snow responded, moving to a bench to relieve her sore ankles.

 

Regina followed her, sitting far too close to be appropriate, but the fallen queen was frantic in her search for all the negatives that could come from such a friendship, or whatever it was supposed to be.

 

Sensing her distress, Snow cupped Regina’s cheek and looked at the older woman seriously, her fingers sliding into her dark hair just slightly when she moved forward. “I meant it when I said I loved you.” The words were said with such conviction, Regina had no choice but to snap her mouth shut and listen carefully to the brat she didn’t quite hate anymore. “I still love you, will always love you, and that means that you will never be alone no matter how hard you try. We will always find a way back to each other, because that’s what we’ve always done. I’d rather this time not be out of hate, but friendship and understanding… someday we can re-look at that relationship, we can work around roles and feelings, but for now: Will you be my family?”

 

Regina’s breath hitched in her throat, the promise of a family, of something, _maybe more_ when the pain of losing David wasn’t so fresh, and perhaps a child she could call her own if things went well, which Regina hoped they would. She didn’t toss Rumpelstiltskin’s curse back in his face because she wanted to hurt Snow anymore. Regina thought the girl had been through enough, they _both_ had, and the promise of a better future together sounded like heaven.

 

Reaching up to lightly hold Snow’s palm to her cheek, Regina smiled beautifully at the brunette, her expression radiant and lively, much like the girl Snow had been enamoured with as a child. “I missed you too,” was whispered in the space between them, and Snow knew… she knew those four words were an acceptance, an apology, and a promise for a new start together that would help heal the wounds of the past.

 

[.]

 


End file.
